PURPOSE
Our purpose is to create a community of students and mentors who explore together the central questions of human culture in the natural world. Our shared tools are meaningful inquiry, authentic scholarship, a spirit of creativity, and a respect for different perspectives.
History
Since 1996, Hayground School has provided an innovative educational experience for its students.
Set on 13 acres of farmland in Bridgehampton, NY, Hayground School was founded on the conviction that all children can create meaningful work in their own lives and make valuable contributions to the lives of others. The school started as an experimental effort by parents and educators to bring together families of diverse backgrounds seeking to build bridges between differences.
Hayground’s unique model of education — an individualized, mentor-based approach that integrates academics with hands-on work in professional disciplines — has fostered a community of teachers, scholars, scientists, and artists dedicated to the intellectual and creative growth of our children.
Historical Landmarks
Founding
Summer, 1996
A group of 24 parents, educators and community members open Hayground School with 60 students, ages 3-14.
Finding A Home
September, 1998
Hayground makes a move to its new (and present) home, on 13 acres of farmland in Bridgehampton.
Shakespeare & Company
December, 1997
Shakespeare & Company begin their annual Artist-in-Residency program. Professional actors from the Berkshires' Shakespeare & Company lead the entire Hayground student body -- from ages 3 to 14 -- through an in-depth exploration of the story, text, and history of a Shakespeare play that culminates with a performance.
Jeff's Kitchen
2003
The Hayground community joins hands to build Jeff’s Kitchen, a state-of-the-art culinary classroom and lynchpin of the Culinary Arts Program that was the long-held dream of founding parent and local restaurateur Jeff Salaway.
Chef's Dinner
2004
Hayground hosts its first Chef’s Dinner, celebrating and supporting the Culinary Arts program.
Honored
2011
Hayground receives a grant from the prestigious Leon Levy Foundation for the advancement of humanity and learning for the second year in a row.
Plans to Expand
2019
Hayground announces plans for Integrated Arts & Science Center (I-ASC), designed to explore the intersection of art and science that arises from exposure to nature, direct observation, collection, analysis and imagination.
Core beliefs
Diversity and Equity
Hayground welcomes all families to create a community of students and mentors who explore together the central questions of human culture in the natural world. Together we focus on respect of different perspectives and our shared tools of meaningful inquiry, authentic scholarship, and a spirit of creativity. We are committed to eliminating any socioeconomic barriers to children’s education.
Mentorship
Hayground students experience mentorship on a daily basis via their teachers, peer mentors, community experts, and visiting artists. As they absorb the skills of sharing knowledge and experience, students are expected to become mentors themselves to their classmates, their families, and their surrounding community.
Meaningful Work
Our job at Hayground is to find or ignite the spark of curiosity residing within each child and fan the flames. Then we work to give them the tools, perseverance and determination to fulfill that curiosity, as well as the ability and commitment to use their knowledge in ways that enhance life for everyone.
Community
All children can develop the practice of compassion. Along with wanting a community of adults and children who know how to use their expertise, ideas, and empathy, Hayground strives to create a community in which reflection and action depend on one another.
Social Responsibility & Sustainability
We emphasize emotional intelligence, affirming every child’s opportunity to serve and be an agent of change.
We respect the world around us, focusing on sustainability and health through work in our four gardens and Culinary Arts Program. As pioneers and innovators, Hayground has leveraged alternative, renewable energy sources on campus since the late 1990’s. The school continues to focus on these efforts, inviting the community to come together for projects and other charitable works throughout the year, including lighting installation and Helping Hands Days.
All children can live as intellectuals.
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All children can become serious and passionate readers.
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All children can engage in genuine conversation in which people exchange information and ideas, change their minds (listen with as much intensity and commitment as they give to convincing others), and work and study in a community where art is at the center, not the periphery, of life.
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All children can become experts, and discover therein a life long thirst for gaining mastery.
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All children can develop the habit of compassion.
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We want a community of adults and children who know how to use their expertise, ideas and compassion, a community in which reflection and action depend upon one another.
Future
Hayground Integrated Arts & Science Center = I-ASC
I-ASC will be an indoor/outdoor classroom of unfettered curiosity, learning, adventure, creativity and thought, serving as the launchpad for fertile minds to explore their surroundings and convey their experiences. Here, art and science will arise from exposure to nature, direct observation, collection, analysis, and imagination. Students will glean that science is creative, art is discovery, and that the two are inextricably linked.
Carefully and thoughtfully green-designed with the artist and citizen scientist in mind, a primary goal of constructing this multi-use edifice is to get students outside. I-ASC will propel students into the environment to have first-hand experience of how the natural world works.
